Forest and crag : a history of hiking, trail blazing, and adventure in the Northeast Mountains / Laura and Guy Waterman.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Waterman, Laura, author.

Waterman, Guy, author.

Series:

Excelsior editions.

Excelsior Editions

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Hiking--New England--History.

Hiking.

Mountains--New England--Recreational use--History.

Mountains.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (980 pages).

Edition:

Thirtieth Anniversary edition.

Place of Publication:

Albany : Excelsior editions, an imprint of State University of New York Press, [2019]

Summary:

Thirty years after its initial publication, this beloved classic is back in print. Superbly researched and written, Forest and Crag is the definitive history of our love affair with the mountains of the Northeastern United States, from the Catskills and the Adirondacks of New York to the Green Mountains of Vermont, the White Mountains of New Hampshire, and the mountains of Maine. It's all here in one comprehensive volume: the struggles of early pioneers in America's first frontier wilderness; the first ascent of every major peak in the Northeast; the building of the trail networks, including the Appalachian Trail; the golden era of the summit resort hotels; and the unforeseen consequences of the backpacking boom of the 1970s and 80s. Laura and Guy Waterman spent a decade researching and writing Forest and Crag, and in it they draw together widely scattered sources. What emerges is a compelling story of our ever-evolving relationship with the mountains and wilderness, a story that will fascinate historians, outdoor enthusiasts, and armchair adventurers alike.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Figures and Tables

Illustrations

Foreword

Preface to the Thirtieth Anniversary Edition

Preface to the E-book Edition

Preface to the Second Edition

Preface to the First Edition

Acknowledgments to the Thirtieth Anniversary Edition

Acknowledgments to the First Edition

Abbreviations

Introduction: The mountains

PART ONE Mountains as "daunting terrible": Before 1830

Chapter 1 Darby Field on Mount Washington

Chapter 2 Ira Allen on Mount Mansfield

Chapter 3 The Belknap-Cutler expedition to Mount Washington

Chapter 4 Alden Partridge: The first regionwide hiker

Chapter 5 The Crawfords of Crawford Notch

Chapter 6 The Monument Line surveyors on Katahdin

Chapter 7 Janus on the heights during the 1820s

Part Two. Mountains as sublime: 1830-1870

Chapter 8 The first mountain tourists

Chapter 9 Katahdin: A test for the adventurous

Chapter 10 The Adirondacks at last

Chapter 11 The mountain guides

Chapter 12 The Austin sisters and their legacy

Chapter 13 The elder Hitchcock and Arnold Guyot

Chapter 14 Wintering over on Moosilauke and Washington

Part Three. Mountains as places to walk: 1870-1910

Chapter 15 The pleasures of pedestrianism

Chapter 16 Adirondack Murray's Fools

Chapter 17 The younger Hitchcock and Verplanck Colvin

Chapter 18 The first hiking clubs

Chapter 19 The first mountain guidebooks

Chapter 20 The first trail systems

Chapter 21 Three Adirondack trail centers

Chapter 22 Randolph

Chapter 23 Other trail systems

Chapter 24 Trails that failed

Chapter 25 Backcountry camping in the eighties and nineties

Chapter 26 Pychowskas ascendant

Chapter 27 Death in the mountains

Chapter 28 Trail policy issues

Chapter 29 J. Rayner Edmands and Warren Hart: A study in contrast

Chapter 30 The last explorers

Chapter 31 The conservation movement

Chapter 32 The first mountain snowshoers

Chapter 33 Winter pioneering on Mount Marcy

Chapter 34 The first mountain skiers

PART FOUR Mountains as escape from. urban society: 1910-1950

Chapter 35 The Long Trail

Chapter 36 Unification of the White Mountain trails

Chapter 37 The Adirondacks become one hiking center

Chapter 38 Baxter State Park

Chapter 39 Metropolitan trails

Chapter 40 Connecticut's blue-blazed trail system

Chapter 41 The proliferation of hiking clubs

Chapter 42 Backcountry camping in the twenties and thirties

Chapter 43 Trail maintenance comes of age

Chapter 44 Regionwide consciousness

Chapter 45 The Appalachian Trail

Chapter 46 Super hiking

Chapter 47 The Bemis Crew

Chapter 48 Katahdin in winter

Chapter 49 Snowshoes versus skis: The great debate

Chapter 50 Depression, hurricanes, and war

PART FIVE Mountains as places for recreation: Since 1950

Chapter 51 The backpacking boom

Chapter 52 Environmental ethics and backcountry management

Chapter 53 Backcountry camping in the seventies and eighties

Chapter 54 The clubs cope with change

Chapter 55 Northeastern trail systems mature

Chapter 56 New paths for trail maintenance

Chapter 57 Points of controversy

Chapter 58 Peakbaggers and end-to-enders

Chapter 59 The "school" of winter mountaineering

Chapter 60 The winter recreation boom

Epilogue

Appendix: Mountains over 4,000 feet in the Northeastern United States, their elevations, and first known ascents

Glossary

Reference notes

Selected Bibliography

Index

About the Authors

Notes:

"1989 and 2003 editions published by the Appalachian Mountain Club"--Title pages verso.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781438475325

1438475322

OCLC:

1089525562